This is a short sharp shock of a race straight after Christmas, being a straight up and down of Wansfell Pike from Ambleside Town Centre. The first part is a runnable climb up Stock Ghyll Lane before the route passes through a fell gate and on steeply to the summit. The race was delayed by 24 hours due to very windy conditions yesterday and the field was probably reduced to the keener runners as a result. I knew that I had my work cut out to make the top half in any case but when Kath first told me that I had finished one place short of my target and that I would have made it, had not another runner behind me withdrawn with a sore ankle, I honestly thought she was winding me up. She was in that kind of mood, having had a slight altercation with an old lady and a dog, which had left a couple of neat puncture wounds on Kath's leg, towards the end of her cycle ride from Spark Bridge to Ambleside. My lungs were bursting from about three quarters of the way up but I held on to the summit and had a real go at the descent. I managed to pick up nine places on the way down but unfortunately, one short of my target.
I should add that one of the joys of fell running is that we ordinary club runners get to line up at the start with the real big names in the sport. The winner at Wansfell was Rob Jebb, British Champion.
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Here I am looking fat, camp and slow. Disappointing as I feel that only two
of those really apply. Nice view of the summit behind though. Thanks again
to Kath for hauling the camera out on to the fell side to capture the image. |
Results: 38th/75 (finishers) 29:20
Distance: 3.3km/2.1 miles Climb: 405m/1329ft
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